


The Shade

by Ikilou



Category: Flight Rising
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-30
Updated: 2015-04-30
Packaged: 2018-03-26 12:58:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3851830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ikilou/pseuds/Ikilou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where did the Shade go after the collapse of the Pillar? Does it still linger? Is it plotting? Well, the Arcanist is about to find out the answer to those questions, and not in the best of ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Shade

**Author's Note:**

> It's been forever since I wrote and uploaded fanfiction of any kind but I just got this idea in my head and had to write it down before I forgot it.  
> Of course, I don't own Flight Rising or any of the characters or anything like that, this is just my take on what could happen. Suggestions and constructive criticism are welcome.

It was an average day in the Observatory for the Arcanist, who'd gotten back into the swing of scribbling down his new findings and revelations after a visit from the Windsinger, and the pink wyrm was curled up comfortably on the floor. One hand was wrapped around a quill, which was occasionally dipped in ink so that the drake could scribble on the parchment before him, and his three other hands were tucked neatly under him.

A breeze blew through the room from seemingly nowhere, and the Arcanist breathed a sigh. Had the Windsinger left something behind?

"Windsinger." Stated the Arcanist, his tone more amused than annoyed, "Did you leave something? It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest." The Arcanist added when he got no response, and when he still got no reply he gave a soft hum in thought.

Another breeze blew past his ears and the pink drake shook his head, "Windsinger, you don't scare me. If you're there, show yourself." His patience was wearing thin by now, and the Arcanist pushed himself up to sit on his hind legs, allowing the quill to rest on the floor beside the parchment. The young deity's eyes scanned the room, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Now he was curious. The Windsinger would've showed himself by now so... If it wasn't the Windsinger, then where was the breeze coming from? Last time he checked, the room was closed off, there shouldn't be any breezes getting in at all.

 

"Dear Arcanist..." Breathed a voice behind him, a voice that he most certainly didn't recognise. Had another shadow dragon been exalted to him? Without hesitation, he turned to glance behind himself in an attempt to catch the prankster, only to find nothing there. Once more, he glanced around the room until a horrific realisation dawned on him. Tilting his head back, he looked up at the ceiling, and what he saw was enough to knock the breath from his lungs.

Hanging from the ceiling with it's tails curled around one of the beams was an impossibly black drake, with shining black eyes and white slits for pupils. It's body seemed to be moving like it wasn't entirely solid, and it's mouth was a just jagged white line. He'd never seen anything like it.

"What... Who are you?" Arcanist dared ask after a moment, the fear that'd gripped him at the top of the Pillar suddenly returning to him and causing him to curl his wings around himself. With a breathy, quiet growl, the strange wyrm swung itself over to the nearest wall and crawled down it effortlessly until it was face-to-face with the pink deity. Up close, it was hard for the Arcanist not to recognise. That jagged mouth parted showing not rows of teeth but an expanse of white, and the Arcanist had to bite back a scream.

 

"My dear Arcanist, I must thank you..." It's tone wasn't that of praise at all, but mocking, "If it weren't for you, I would never have been able to return... For centuries, I have been trying to reconstruct myself, trying to get back into the timeless void of space until something dawned on me... The best way to drain this world of it's magic and destroy it would be from the inside out." It finished with a bark of cruel laughter that sent a shiver down the Arcanist's spine. There was no way that this creature could be...

"You seem confused." It said, circling the deity with a predatory grin. As it did so, the Arcanist couldn't help but look at it's body more closely, trying to figure out how it'd managed to take this form. It's forelegs were that of a dragon's, complete with sharp, shiny black claws, and it's body was covered in scales darker than that of a dragon with an Obsidian primary colour. Two leathery wings were folded to it's sides, but it's back legs were not like a dragon's at all, but like an Elk's, ending in hooves, but they were still covered in scales. And two long tails, with tufts at the ends, twisted and thrashed behind the beast.

"You know me as the Shade." It stated, coming face-to-face with the stunned deity. It's ears were pinned upwards, shaped like an Elk's too, and two horns curled around it's ears, ending in sharp, dangerous points. Atop it's head, instead of a crest or fins of any kind, was what looked like a line of pitch black fire, twisting upwards, and the Arcanist realised that the 'hair' on it's tails were the same. He found himself wondering if it would burn like fire, too. Whilst his imagination took over, asking questions that couldn't be answered yet, the Arcanist hadn't realised that this dragon had given it's name, and as soon as he realised...

 

"No..." The Arcanist practically whimpered, pushing himself back and away from the horrific, grinning wyrm that'd curled around him. He couldn't push away, he realised, with the drake's tails keeping him in place.

"What... What do you want? How are you even alive?" Stuttered the Arcanist, earning another short bark of humourless laughter from the dark coloured dragon, "For years I've been pulling my energy from the land, bringing pieces of myself together from all across Sornieth. And when I realised that I could never become the beautiful writhing mass of maws and claws that I once was, I reformed myself to be more like the dragons that have been inhabiting this world since I was last defeated. I've grown smart over the years, you see, learning, evolving... And it wont be long now until I'm as powerful as I once was and can begin to take this world for myself. After all, now that all of the gods have separated and isolated themselves... There's nothing that any of you can do about my return."

The Arcanist listened intently, committing every word that passed the Shade's lips to memory, for future reference. And when he didn't give the response that the impossibly dark dragon wanted, he found teeth snapping shut in front of his nose - oh, so it did have teeth. Maybe it could make them appear at will? So many questions, not enough answers.

But in a moment of madness, the Arcanist just laughed, having just found a problem in the Shade's plan which he intended to pick out immediately, "You know, there are a lot more dragons nowadays than there were - the creations of the deities that defeated you, each blessed with powers and abilities of their own. And there are more deities, too! Where once there were Eight, there are now Eleven. You'd be easy to beat! I bet you're no stronger than me currently, right?"

 

Now it was the Shade's turn to stand in shocked silence, it's grin nearly dropping before it's eyes narrowed, "Would you like to find out?" It growled dangerously, challenging the pink dragon who was trying not to giggle.

"Please. It'd be good to document this. I can't wait to tell the others!" Smiled the Aracnist who, now that he realised what was actually going on, pushed his way out of the Shade's grip. Instead, he sat a short distance away, and, as a bit of an experiment, conjured up colourful tendrils of Arcane magic and witnessed the Shade act as it had when the two beings last met. As he moved, the Shade, in somewhat of a trance, mirrored the movement, finding itself mesmerised by the display. In turn, it created it's own deep black tendrils which mimicked the colourful ones of the Arcanist's creation.

"See, I told you." The Arcanist said cheerfully after a moment, "You're still the same as you were back then but a lot less powerful this time. Though your shape may be different, and your mind more evolved, you'll always be the same. Honestly, I really was expecting you to just turn back into a seething black mass just now, and I don't know why you didn't but -"

The Arcanist paused in realisation, his lips pulling back into a grin, "You're not stuck like that, are you?"

"What? Of course not!" Hissed the Shade between gritted teeth, angry at itself that it'd fallen prey to the deity's display as it had centuries ago.

 

"Then do it. Show me." Replied the Arcanist, feeling more at ease now that he figured he had the upper hand, and crossed both sets of arms over his chest in defiance. The Shade, however, growled in response.

"Fine!" And it tried, oh, how it tried, but it soon gave up as it realised that it was, indeed, stuck in the form of a dragon. Oh no.

"I... I can't..." Muttered the Shade, and the Arcanist burst out laughing, not entirely believing what he was seeing, "Oh, wow! The Shade, stuck in the form of a dragon. A being that used to be able to take on Eight deities at once, now unable to even beat one of the youngest. Are you afraid of attacking me or something? This is priceless." 

"Shut up!" Hissed the dark dragon, before it stood and moved to leave the room to hide it's embarrassment, until it felt claws against the scales of it's tails, two sets of claws on each tail.

"Oh, no, you aren't going anywhere! Tell you what - you stay here, let me observe and examine you up close, I'll tell the other gods about you, and, in return, I wont let them destroy you once and for all just yet. Got it?" And the Shade bowed it's head, silently agreeing to the deity's terms. It really didn't have a choice at this point, did it?


End file.
